Mohammad Tarahmi, the legal and parliamentary affairs director-general of the Drug Control Headquarters, reported that a controlled cultivation regulation for “Shaghayeq Ylifra” has been issued. “Shaghayeq Ylifra” is a type of poppy used to supply pharmaceutical raw materials, for medical uses, along with a directive on industrial hemp cultivation in Iran.

Tarahmi said that the controlled cultivation of “Shaghayeq Ylifra” will be carried out based on the amount of need determined by the Ministry of Health, on lands designated by the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, by eligible applicants.

He added that the stages of determining the seed, planting, tending, harvesting, and after-harvest handling of this product will be under supervision, and the cultivation applicant must also have a contract with a permitted pharmaceutical company.

Tarahmi also said that by setting the permitted level of the active ingredient THC, the boundary between legal and illegal hemp cultivation has been established, and industrial hemp cultivation can be carried out by observing the issued guidelines.

He added that for years, due to concerns about diversion, there had been ambiguity about industrial hemp cultivation, and now, with the establishment of guidelines, the possibility of using its economic and agricultural capacities within the framework of the law has been provided.